Signs Your Hormones Are Out of Whack and Supplements That May Bring Them Back Into Balance

s forThis is a sponsored post in collaboration with Douglas Laboratories®

how to balance your hormones

Do you want to know one of the top issues that readers talk about, my friends talk about, heck pretty much every woman talks about?

Hormones.

Our lives essentially revolve around hormones. If we’re breaking out? It could be hormonal. Craving cookies or pasta? Could be hormonal. Feeling exceptionally bloated? You guessed it – hormonal.

Hormones play such an important role in so many different areas of our lives. They affect our mood, energy, menstrual cycles, food cravings, sleep cycles, and weight fluctuations to name a few.

There is SO much that goes into balancing your hormones. But I think it’s useful to know the signs of imbalanced hormones before you go gung-ho on researching the various ways to bring them back into balance. So let’s chat about this first.

A few signs that your hormones need to be balanced:

  • If you’re having trouble sleeping or feeling tired alllll the dang time.
  • Your nails and hair could be breaking easily / nails are looking exceptionally brittle and weak.
  • Your PMS symptoms are starting to get a bit too large and in charge.
  • You’re gaining weight when you seem to be following a healthy fitness and eating routine.
  • You’re extra moody before your monthly shark week.
  • You feel like you are experiencing “brain fog”.
  • You’re feeling bloated even when you’re eating a healthy diet.

A lot of these symptoms could be an imbalance of your progesterone, testosterone, and estrogen. But let’s not forget about our other hormones like cortisol, ghrelin, and insulin. So as you can see if you don’t make sure your body is producing the appropriate amounts of hormones to keep you happy and healthy, you end up feeling frumpy n’ bumpy. No one wants that!

Since the topic of hormones is almost like dipping your toe in a vast ocean, I’m just chipping at the tip of an iceberg here and talking only about herbs and supplements that you can look into that help balance your hormones. So let’s dive in y’all!

Herbs and supplements that may help  balance your hormones

You may think I’m a bit nutty when it comes to supplements, but I’m not downing 10 pills and powders a day. I am very intentional about what I consume so I only take supplements as needed, or if I’m going through a phase when I’m not getting a ton of nutrition from food (aka I’m eating a bunch of junk – I’m human). Below are the supplements I’ve done some research on that are linked to helping keep all your hormone production healthy and balanced.

  • Vitamin D ) is hard to find in most foods and we get the best absorption of vitamin D from the sun. But a lot of us are inside a majority of the day working and especially when it’s winter time here in Chicago, our vitamin D absorption can be minimal. Vitamin D helps regulate our mood, which of course, is linked to our hormones.
  • Evening primrose oil contains a fatty acid that helps promote healthy hormone production and has been used in remedies for hundreds of years to help with premenstrual symptoms and fertility. This supplement from Douglas Laboratories is a blend of evening primrose oil fatty acids, and additional omega fatty acids to give it an extra boost.
  • Probiotics provide our gut with healthy bacteria, and when our gut is healthy, our hormone production is healthy. Maintaining a healthy gut helps the production of hormones leptin, ghrelin, and insulin.
  • Maca comes from the radish family and has been used for centuries in Peru to help with fertility, testosterone levels, and reducing PMS symptoms. This supplement from Douglas Laboratories contains maca and additional herbs that help support our reproductive system. Check out the product data sheet that describes in more detail about how all of these herbs help support our libido and hormone production.

 

Adaptogenic herbs:  I’ve written about adaptogenic herbs before and I can’t get enough of them. These herbs help us regulate the physical effects from stress and they support the various organs that regulate hormone production like the pancreas, thyroid, and adrenals.

  • Ashwagandha can be especially helpful to our thyroid. Holistic practitioners have used ashwagandha to support thyroid and adrenal health. When our adrenals are being stressed a bit too much due to chronic stress, it could lead to an imbalance in progesterone and cortisol.
  • Rhodiola helps us increase our energy during times of stress. It is also said to help decrease cortisol levels. This supplement has a blend of various different adaptogenic herbs including rhodiola to help support our adrenal glands. Let me tell ya, if you are ever feeling like you are experiencing fatigue and more stress than usual, you should find a holistic practitioner to help get to the root cause. If it’s adrenal fatigue then these adaptogenic herbs could be a wonderful natural alternative to finding balance!

DIM is a supplement I recently discovered and I’m still doing some of my own research on it, but I find it extremely interesting. DIM is short for diindolylmethane, and it is a compound that is found in cruciferous vegetables. Studies have linked it to supporting hormone metabolism and regulation, and when taken it is supposed to increase the “good” types of estrogen while decreasing the “bad” types of estrogen. It is said to help alleviate the annoyances of PMS and may even reduce painful menstrual cycles.

So there you have it! I wouldn’t go on taking all of these at once of course, as you never want to shock your body. You should consult with your physician before you try any new supplements and you should *not* consume new herbs or supplements if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

You can purchase these and other Douglas Laboratories supplements here!

Have you tried any of these supplements before? Share your experiences with us in the comments below!

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

 

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